I grew Oca in 2007, tubers purchased from Nichols. From my journal I planted them June 10th and harvested Dec. 6th. I should have planted them in May. It took a while for them to really get going. Beautiful foliage, almost like a giant clover. Dug up quite a load from only 12 tubers. Lots of small ones. We tried them steamed and roasted and didn't care for the flavor. Somewhat bitter. Hope that helps.

Here is a link that might be useful: Oca from Nichols

I grew Oca when living in the Mexican state of Puebla. It's a local crop in some places there. I never ate it cooked, only raw. As I recall, it had a somewhat sweet flavor. But it never was very high on our list. Where we lived it was very cool except for about 8 weeks in April and May. Rainfall was very high and our first frost was sometime in November. Frost there were fairly light until later in December.

George

I think the problem most North Americans have with South American veggies is that we don't know how they serve them. My hubby spent his childhood all around SA and has introduced me to some of the various dishes. I must say I've only found a couple I didn't really like and those were just too hot (chile pepper wise) for me. The sauces are amazing.....flavor but not oily or full of cream.

The Spaniards didn't do us a favor when they conquered the Indians of South and Central America. The health benefits of some of their food is just now being understood. Oca and quinoa are veggies that contain a large amount of protein. And some of the drinks they make from local corns are full of antioxidants. Looks like the Spaniards left the real gold behind.

Oca, once is harvested must be dried out in the sun. It becomes sweeter this way, otherwise is bitter like someone already said.
It can be eaten raw, or cooked like a sweet potato.
I ordered mine this year for the first time from Seed Savers Exchange. I will post my experiences growing in Florida.
And don't forget some foods are an acquired taste.

If you have OCA, I want to trade?!

Sorry, I have none this year.

Then natives of the Alti Plano in Bolivia put them out to sun dry. The thing is that it gets bitter cold during the night and hot during the day. I just bought some from Seeds of Change and plan to put them out to dry during the day and in the freezer at night...hopefully to duplicate the process. The Bolivians rave about them, but I think it must be the dehydration process that makes them so wonderful. Never had them myself yet.

I got my order of oca and is already planted. It is showing pretty, clover like leaves.
It is a crop that used to be popular, but not anymore. I think the reason being is when you dried it out in the sun, it does not look pretty anymore. For market value this counts.
I will see how it does in my climate since its natural habitat is high in the Andes.
Bekisar, I will let you know after the season is over. The bulbs are very small, even smaller than baby potatoes.
By the way, I would not put them in the fridge, that will probably change the taste. Root crops don't take well to freezing.
Silvia